OCCULT SPAIN: ROMERÍA DE EL ROCÍO - A Sacred Pilgrimage

People arrive in oxen and horse drawn covered wagons from all over Andalusia and further. Its origins can be traced to the 15th century. The little sleepy town of El Rocío resembles for most of the year a ghost town in an old spaghetti western, snug against the Doñana Nacional Park, a sanctuary for migrating birds. During the Romería the town transforms and fills with horses, oxen, wagons, women in bright flamenco-style dresses, the traditional Andalusian costume, and men will proudly be wearing the 'traje corto' (short riding style jackets), and wide-brimmed hats.